Mark Waugh has admitted that his passion for the game has waned and that he would not be surprised to be dropped from the Australian team. Waugh, whose twin brother Steve was axed as one-day captain last week, has been under pressure to keep his place after a modest summer's work: 269 runs at an average of 33.63 in six Tests against New Zealand and South Africa, and 126 runs at 21 in the traumatic VB Series. Waugh has not made a century in the Baggy Green since his 120 against England at The Oval in August 2001.

Back then Waugh's advancing age - he is 37 in June - seemed completely irrelevant, but it has since become a big issue and he needs to produce in the Tests against South Africa - a series Australia must win to stay on top of the ICC Test Championship - which begins on Friday.

"I wouldn't say I'm as keen as I was," Waugh said. "I've played so much cricket now that it does start to wear you down - the travelling and even the media. But I still get really hyped up for the big games - the Tests and the one-dayers. The tour games, they're the sort of games that I do struggle to get fired up for.

"You're always surprised when you get dropped, but it wouldn't be a total surprise the way everybody is talking and the general vibe around the place. But I still think I'm good enough to do the job at the top of the order in one-day cricket. It's only three or four games where I haven't performed. If you look at it in those terms I think I can do it."

Waugh said it had been impossible to ignore the press speculation about his place: "You wouldn't be human if you did. I read the papers, I'm not stupid. I listen to the radio and I own a TV, so I'm well aware of what certain people have to say about my form and how I've played the last couple of years and whether I should be in the team.

"The bottom line is that I know how I'm playing. I've played a lot of cricket for Australia so I must have done something right. I think I've still got a bit of cricket left in me at the top level."

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